Mon. afternoon

Dearest,

I couldn’t wait any longer to write you. Already it seems like yesterday was ages ago.

I arrived in Chicago at 10:00 the train was an hour late. I hope you made it back O.K. and be sure and take care of your cold, you know, stay in on weekends and the such, but all kidding aside do take care of it. The temperate here is 6 degrees below and believe me its really cold I just about froze coming out on the “L” last night. I stopped off and saw Elaine and Stanley they were up and had been expecting me.

I think I was more homesick this morning than I had yet been, but it really wasn’t homesickness for home. Zoe, I really never felt so let down in all my life as I did when I got on the train last night. It hasn’t left me yet either. You do believe me when I tell you that I love you, don’t you, Zoe? I hope you meant what you said in your letter at home, and I really wouldn’t have let anybody read it if I had seen it first.

I think I will go down to Elaine’s Wed. afternoon I still have all her presents to take. Our house formal is Feb. 7 but I told the boys and had other and better dates for that weekend, and by the way I hadn’t asked you for a date for then yet. May I have a few? (R.S.V.P.)

I hope my competition isn’t to great down there between Jim and the Chem instructor because I am at a little disadvantage.

Steve and I are going to the basket-ball game tonight N.U. and Minnesota play it should be a good game.

If you don’t like this letter let me know and I won’t write any more like it, but its the way you have me feeling. I had to tell somebody how much I love you, I guess I could tell Steve but I doubt if that would give much satisfaction.

I had better close now and try to study alittle. Remember you you can’t write often enough to suit me. I am always expecting a letter.

Pardon the different colors between the envelopes and paper, but some xxx xxxx so an so took all my white envelopes. See you the 7th.

With love,

Tom

Mon. evening.

Dearest,

I recieved your letter today I had really began to worry. It had been over a week, but I know how busy things have been this last week.

It didn’t take the war long to come to a head. So far it looks like we have got the little the worse of the deal, but I think that will change. The way the draft is going it looks like there will be alot of vacant seats around here after the first semester alot of them here in the house were just granted enough time to finish one semester. My roommate is one of them he’s pretty worried and is just about ready to join the navy.

I am going to meet Steve at 10:00. He has been working down town during the Christmas rush.

Dad is sort of thinking about coming up after me this Fri. If it wasn’t for my Chem lab that afternoon I could leave early.

German is still awful and going worse. (Ich liebe Sie^[1]I love you) translate this.

I certainly hope you are home more than 4 days Christmas. If you aren’t there won’t be much use for me to go home.

With love,

Tom

This pen isn’t worth a damn.

Wed. noon.

Dearest,

I haven’t very much time but I recieved your letter yesterday and tried to find time to write you last night. I have swimming next period and then I am through for the rest of the day out side of writing a theme and doing some math problems and some Chemistry problems so I will have time for alittle rest, like heQQQQQ. I will finish this after swimming so don’t go away.

6:30—

Sorry, but just got back to my room. I was planning on finishing this at two-thirty, but I had to go down to Chicago for one of the fellows in the house. Darling, I do’t know how you felt after the Alumni Dance last spring, but I know I felt awful funny; so, therefore I have experienced the same sensation. I really wanted to come back last summer, but thought it was useless to try. Ususually after dinner every evening Steve and I take a walk along the lake; he is quite interested in a girl up north, and you and she are the main topics of discussion.

Only sixteen more days, and while we’re on the subject, I might as well ask you for a date now. How about Saturday night, the twentieth?

Sunday night we had an exchange dinner with the Pi Phi’s, and there was something in the meal that made everybody sick. As it happened, Steve and I had ducked out and eaten up town, and anyway there were about a dozen kids in the house that got sick, including my two room-mates. They couldn’t even go to school Tuesday. If they’d eaten much more they wouldn’t have needed a doctor; a couple of the boys are still in the hospital. Hand and Bud got sick Monday night and carried on quite a fuss, but do to excellent nursing on my part, they’re as fit as a fiddle today. Ole Doc Cartmell knows his stuff, but for a while I thought it would be a case for the morgue. (I better quite slinging this bull—)

I’d better close this before the mailman gets tired of waiting, and besides I’m afraid you’d pass out if you got a two-page letter. See you in sixteen days.

With love,

Tom

5:30 Tuesday

Dearest,

I tried to find time to write you last night but had to much work to do.

I am still dreaming about last weekend. The only thing I didn’t like about it was the parting Sun. night. I certainly did feel like ________ when I left the station and still do. I doubt if that feeling goes away before next Wed.

The work is pilling up fast and I have a English test tomorrow over Bacon’s essays. I finished what I was supposed to in the Odyssey on the L coming back Sun. night. I hope you made it back on time.

I have to learn another German conjugation for tomorrow. The farther I go in that the more mixed up I am.

Dick (the boy who entertained you while I was changing clothes) was quite impressed with you but I couldn’t blame him.

I didn’t get any swats last night, but no body did so that will mean a double dose next Mon.

Keep your fingers crossed that Northwestern beats Notre Dame Sat. because I don’t want to go to school Mon.

There goes the bell, see you Thurs. night

With love,

Tom.

P.S. What kind of a bet do you want to make for the Illinois, N.U. game?

2:00 o’clock Tues.

Dearest,

Just time for a note before I got to the library. I received your telegram last night and everybody knew it in less than 5 minutes.

I will be at the station to meet you. One of my friends here has a date and he will come with me. Then we’ll see Chicago.

I called Elaine last night and she thinks its swell. She said she had written you.

Its getting cold here today so you might get to see some snow. I just about froze going to my 8:30 this morning. I have to go right along the lake.

Everything is coming O.K. except German and that has me worried.

I have to write a theme so will close.

With love,

Tom.

Oct. 30, 1941
Thurs. evening.

Dearest,

I don’t have time for any more than a line or two, but I wanted to know if you could come up the 8th of Nov. That is the day of the Indiana game. If you could leave Champaign the 7th sometime in the afternoon, I could meet you at the train station, that night when ever your train came in. Elaine says that weekend will be fine with her and she is looking forward to having you come. (So am I.) If you can do this write me and let me know when your train gets in to Chicago. I hope you can come. Write me and let me know about this, because Elaine wants to write you.

I really do hope you will come.

What do you think of this Sigma Nu stationary? You are the first I’ve used it on.

Let me know about coming and please don’t disappoint me.

With love,

Tom.

Dearest,

I have been meaning to write you for the last week or has it been longer than that? I hope there are some other schools not as tough as Northwestern because this one is plenty hard and I want an easier one for next year.

Its just about dinner time but I wanted to mail this tonight.

Last weeks game didn’t go so good for Northwestern but we can at least say we don’t pick on little teams to win from. (such as Drake) It was really a swell game and we should have won.

I am certainly glad that last week is past, because between homecoming and Dad coming up I didn’t get much work completed. My subjects aren’t so hard except German and its really a nightmare. I have an eight thirty every morning but I’ll know better next time not to get any of them. It seems like I just go to bed and have to get up. For the amount of sleep I get I might just as well not go to bed because it takes up more energy than I can spare crawling up into the top bunk.

I guess you Bob B. was up two weeks ago we really saw the town I think he was quite impressed.

I had better close this letter because tonight is swat night and I can’t risk being late to dinner. Wish me luck that I don’t get over one swat. I know I have that coming.

Tell Ruth hello.

Do you think you could come to Chicago any week-end? Elaine said she would like for you to stay with her. Think this over and let me know where to meet you. (I hope I am not taking to much for granite)

With love,

Tom.

Dear Zoe,

I guess I was a slow at answering your letter as you were answering mine.

You wern’t kidding when you said that college took alot of time, I’ve been so busy that I don’t know just what I have been doing.

Last night was swat night and out of thirty fellows four of them got swated. I was the second one of the four, but I got off pretty lucky with just one. I had been caught with my green hat off and i also forgot to get a fellow up at 7:00 o’clock.

This spring the freshmen through the seniors in the lake if they can. There are about three fellows that as far as I am concerned will be the first to go in.

I have a Chem Quiz this afternoon and I just finished with a German test (I didn’t do so hot) So far German is the hardest one that I have but I haven’t found a snap course yet.

This coming Mon. day night is the pledge walk out. That is when all of the pledges take all of the silverware and walk out with an other sorority of their own choice, we chose the Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority.

Last night we serenaded all of the girls houses. Now you know why I never have time to write as well as study.

Its just about time for lunch so had better close. I talk to Ed about going down to see you and it is still under contemplation, so I’ll will let you know if we get to come.

With love,

Tom

Dear Zoe,

Again I type you a letter so you will be sure and be able to read it. I wrote you one letter and mailed it to Sorento, but as yet have not had any return. I guess you had already left for school, but anyway I do expect one after this, and soon.

I saw my advisor yesterday and we made out my schedule: five hours German, four hours English, four hours Chemistry, three hours College algerbra. Do you think that should keep me busy.

Tomorrow night is the freshmen dance, and then Fri. night is the Fraternity dance and if you don’t get a date for them they will get you one. I really like it here in the house, they haven’t as yet started any funny stuff, but we have to have twenty barrel staves by the end of this week and you can use your imagination if you want to know why they want those. The pledge pins or just like the others only it is just the center out of them. They have appointed the guy to give the swats and he sure isn’t any shorty.

My room-mate is Tuffy Chambers he’s the captain of the football team this year so you can see that I’m going to have to be good. If you can’t see that you would if you saw Tuffy. I don’t know how long he is going to be here, The Orington Hotel has offered him a job that if he sweeps the snow off the walk every morning that it snows that he can stay in one of the guest rooms.

Have to close now.

Write soon.

with love,

Tom.

Dear Zoe,

I hope you will pardon the typing but I’m at Elaine’s tonight and my pen is out at the fraternity.

I pledged the Sigma Nu fraternity last night they have a swell bunch of fellows from all over the country. Sun. night is formal pledging and after that they start laying it on. This rush week has really been nice I’ve met so many fellows that I’ve just about forgot my own name.

I’ve got to bed before two just one night this week all the other they have taken us down to Chicago to all the night clubs Mon. night the Chicago thetre Tues. night the Bismark and the Panther Room at the hotel Sherman. I’m staying here at Elaine’s expecting to get a good nights sleep.^[1]Elaine and Stanley lived in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago, just south of Evanston, where Northwestern University is located.

When you write me if you do, and I hope you do, send it to the Sigma Nu Frat. at Northwestern Univ., Evanston. I will be expecting to hear from you soon.

I have to take my placement exams Mon. morning at 8:00 o’clock. Then sometimes next week there is the freshmen dance.

I’ve seen alot of fellows that I’ve known from camp. Tuffy Chambers lives in the house and he’s capt. of this years football team and there’r going to beat the socks off of Illinois this year.

The way the house has things arranged each freshman rooms with an upper classmen and the sophomores live out of the house in apartments. The idea of having the freshmen with upperclassmen is that if they need their shoes shined or their faced washed there will be some one there to do it. The little green hats or to be issued next week, I’m afraid that I’m in for a pretty miserable year so wish me luck and hope the I get in with a fairly decent fellow.

I think I better be going to bed. I will sign this with Elaine’s pen, but I really shouldn’t after the way you insult my penmenship, which is of the highest degree and anyone would be proud to have the same ability. Don’t take this seriously because I think it stinks too.

With love,

Tom

I’ll be looking for a letter and don’t keep me looking to long.